Owner-reported complaints naming the seat belt system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming seat belts, buckles, retractors and pretensioners. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2004 BMW 530I submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 8 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
THE VEHICLE AIRBAG SYSTEM IS MALFUNCTIONING. THERE WERE RECALLS RELATED TO THE BMW BUT MY VEHICLE DOESN'T APPEAR TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL WHEN I SEARCH BY VIN NUMBER. I CONTACTED THE DEALER AND THEY SAID MY VEHICLE ISN'T COVERED. THE AIRBAG LIGHT AND RESTRAINT LIGHT IS ON AND MY HEAD UNIT SAYS THERE IS A FAULT IN MY PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM. *TR
RESTRAIN SYSTEM ERROR MESSAGE IN MY RADIO SCREEN ALSO AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON, THIS MESSAGE CAME ON SUDENDLY FOR NO REASON, CAR NEVER ENVOLVED IN A ACCIDENT,
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BMW 530I. WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE, THE AIR BAG SENSOR LIGHT AND THE SEAT BELT SENSOR LIGHT WOULD ILLUMINATE ALONG WITH A MESSAGE INDICATING THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT RESTRAINT SYSTEM WAS FAULTY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 108,800.
MY 2004 BMW 530I HAS BOTH THE SEATBELT AND AIRBAG LIGHT ON DISPLAY AT ALL TIMES ON MY DASHBOARD. THESE LIGHTS ON ARE CAUSED BY A FAULTY FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANT DETECTION MAT WHICH BMW HAS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON. AFTER DROPPING MY CAR TO THE BMW DEALERSHIP TO GET THIS REPAIRED, I WAS INFORMED MY EXTENDED WARRANTY EXPIRED ROUGHLY 2 MONTHS PRIOR AND I CANNOT HAVE THIS WORK PERFORMED UNDER WARRANTY. THEY CHARGED ME $140 FOR THE DIAGNOSTICS AND SAID I WOULD HAVE TO PAY $1050 OUT OF POCKET TO GET REPAIRED. I IMMEDIATELY REACHED OUT TO BMW OF NORTH AMERICA AND INFORMED THEM OF MY SITUATION AS THIS OCCURRED WHILE MY VEHICLE WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. I WAS HOPING THEY COULD FIX MY CAR IN GOOD FAITH AS THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE OR EVEN PROVIDE ME WITH A DISCOUNTED REPAIR. UNFORTUNATELY TWO MONTHS WENT BY WITH NO RESPONSE. WHEN I REACHED OUT AGAIN THEY SAID NO THIS IS NOT THEIR HEADACHE AND I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL COSTS AND REPAIRS RELATED TO THIS. THIS IS A SERIOUS MALFUNCTION WHICH I AM SURPRISED IS NOT CONSIDERED A RECALL. IN THE SAFETY RECALL NOTICE IT SPECIFICALLY STATES IF BOTH WARNING LAMPS ARE ILLUMINATED SIMULTANEOUSLY, BMW RECOMMENDS NOT TO USE THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT UNTIL THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN SERVICED. ALSO, THE SAFETY RECALL NOTICE SAYS THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER AIRBAGS WILL NOT DEPLOY EVEN IF A SUFFICIENTLY SEVERE ACCIDENT WOULD OCCUR AND OCCUPANT PROTECTION PROVIDED BY THE SYSTEM WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE. OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE WHICH BMW NEEDS TO ADDRESS. AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON SUCH A SENSITIVE MATTER IS NOT SUFFICIENT AND A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED. *TR
THIS AN UPDATE OF NHTSA ID NUMBER: 10557262. I TOOK MY CAR INTO THE DEALER IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT MY CAR DID HAVE A FAULTY FRONT PASSENGER SEAT SENSOR MAT THAT WAS COVERED BY RECALL FOR SOME CARS MY MODEL YEAR BUT NOT MINE. WHAT WAS UPSETTING IS THE DEALER INFORMED ME THAT THIS PART WAS REPLACED IN 2007. THE RECALLED WAS ISSUED IN 2008 BUT DID NOT INCLUDE MY VIN. NOW, THE SENSOR MAT IS BAD AGAIN...YET MY VIN DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME RECALL PROBLEM? I UNDERSTAND BMW NA COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THIS COST AND AFTER OWNING 4 BMW(S) THIS MAY BE MY LAST. I SPOKE TO BMW ON THE PHONE...AND I MIGHT AS WELL BEEN TALKING TO MY LOCAL FORD DEALER. THEY OFFERED NO HELP WITH COST OR SERVICE...FOR AN AIR-BAG MALFUNCTION. IF THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT MY PASSENGER'S LIFE.....I DO CARE ENOUGH TO LET THEM KNOW HOW UPSET I AM WITH THEM. *TR
I AM AFRAID TO HAVE ANYONE SIT IN MY CAR BECAUSE THE AIRBAG MIGHT NOT WORK! I WORK WITH THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH AND I OFTEN TRANSPORT CHILDREN. BMW ISSUED THE BELOW RECALL BUT THEY DID NOT INCLUDE MY VIN...BUT I AM HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE!!!!! --------------------------------- STATEMENT ON VOLUNTARY RECALL INVOLVING FRONT PASSENGER SEAT SENSOR MAT ON U.S.A. MODEL BMWS - AUGUST 13, 2008 TODAY, BMW ANNOUNCED A VOLUNTARY RECALL REGARDING THE FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG SEAT SENSOR MAT INVOLVING APPROXIMATELY 200,000 MODEL YEAR 2004-06 VEHICLES. AFFECTED ARE CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2006 3-SERIES, MODEL YEAR 2004-06 5-SERIES, AND MODEL YEAR 2004-06 X3 VEHICLES, DEPENDING UPON SEAT TYPE. BMW HAS FOUND THAT THE SENSOR MAT MAY BECOME DAMAGED DURING VEHICLE USAGE DEPENDING UPON THE MANNER AND FREQUENCY OF THE FRONT PASSENGER'S ENTRY AND EXIT. BMW WILL BEGIN SENDING CUSTOMER LETTERS IN LATE SEPTEMBER 2008. AFFECTED OWNERS MAY CONTINUE TO DRIVE THEIR VEHICLES; HOWEVER, CUSTOMERS SHOULD CONTACT THEIR BMW CENTER IF THE AIR BAG WARNING LAMP, AND THE PASSENGER AIR BAG ''ON-OFF'' LAMP ARE ILLUMINATED SIMULTANEOUSLY. IN THIS SITUATION, BMW RECOMMENDS CUSTOMERS NOT TO USE THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AND HAVE THE VEHICLE SERVICED IMMEDIATELY. AT THE PRESENT TIME, WE ARE UNAWARE OF ANY ACCIDENTS OR INJURIES AS A RESULT OF THIS ISSUE. *TR
UPON STARTING THE VEHICLE THE AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT INDICATOR LAMP ILLUMINATED AND THE COMPUTER INDICATED A FAULT IN THE AIR BAG SYSTEM. *TR
THE PASSENGER AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT LIGHTS WERE LIT ON MY 2004 BMW 530I. THIS IS THE SAME SYMPTOM AS DESCRIBED IN THE RECALL CAMPAIGN NUMBER 08V384000 / NHTSA ACTION NUMBER EA08001. I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A RECALL LETTER FROM BMW. I LEARNED ABOUT THE RECALL IN FEB / 2010 AND TOOK THE CAR TO BMW DEALER. I WAS TOLD MY CAR IS NOT COVERED BY THE RECALL AND I WAS CHARGED FOR LABOR TO REPLACE THE PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANCY DETECTOR MAT (PART # 52-10-9-142-348). I BELIEVE MY CAR SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE BMW RECALL CAMPAIGN. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .